Aimone-Martin Associates - Construction Equipment

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Monitoring Construction Equipment Vibration and Noise

Aimone-Martin Associates, LLC have extensive field experience working in the construction industry to monitor vibrations and
noise from equipment used for rock excavation (trenchers, hammers), pile driving, and vibratory compaction of soils, base course, and asphalt. When construction equipment operates near inhabited buildings, vibrations can be particularly disturbing to persons inside due to the repetitive and continuous nature of the equipment mechanical energy. The ground motion energy often contains frequency components that "match" the natural frequency of structures. Resulting motions in structure walls tend to cause loose objects resting against or on walls to rattle, producing noise. This noise often startles and alarms residents, leading them to think the structure is being damaged when indeed the displacements are far too low to cause structure cracking.

Construction vibratory equipment, pile drivers, rock excavators and impactors generate high frequency ground motions that tend to attenuate quickly with distance. Vibratory rollers can produce disturbing wall deflections because of the low frequencies associated with compacting. As a result, we find more objects being dislodged from walls and shelves (pictures falling and bric-a-brac overturning) with vibratory rollers than with other types of equipment. Normally, construction equipment working near structures do not cause damage from vibrations. The potential for damage may be present when equipment is operating very close-in. In general, it is not possible to induce cracking in walls or foundations from the operation of impactors, pile drivers, excavators, or rollers at the normal building stand-off distances used in industry practice. It is always recommended to conduct site-specific vibration propagation or attenuation surveys using linear arrays of seismographs to determine safe stand-off distances to structures.

Vibration Monitoring and Public Relations

The U.S. Bureau of Mines safe vibration criteria developed for blasting near structures are used by the construction industry to establish safe, frequency-blast ground vibration limits. A vibration monitoring plan including public education and intensive vibration monitoring at the beginning of every project, with supplemental monitoring as needed, is the most effective and economical way to protect your operations.

Our risk management and community relations plans include

detailed pre-construction condition surveys of close-in structures,
written notification informing property owners what to expect and how to prepare for construction activities,
initial vibration monitoring employing extensive arrays of seismographs to characterize the statistical spread of ground motions, and
curves developed to predict ground velocity as a function of distance for each type of vibratory equipment on site.

These curves are invaluable in the event damage claims arise and used to predict the amplitude of ground vibration at the claimant's structure with a high degree of confidence.

Our firm supports developers and contractors throughout the construction project by serving as a buffer with the community. We field all citizen complaints and immediately address concerns in a variety of ways specific to your project scope.